We Are Your Shadows
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: "Ah, but, have you not forgotten something?" AU poem, one-shot, rated T to be safe.


This is it, it seems.  
The final page, the end of the line,  
and it looks as if  
those precious plans you had  
just did not work, they  
just did not manifest in the way you  
wished they would.  
And so now you flounder and  
decide that the only  
way to move forward now  
is to pull it all down and  
pretend that none of this  
ever even happened.  
You've done it before, after all,  
so you don't have a reason  
to think it won't work again.

Ah, but, have you not forgotten something?

Look, look over here, we're here,  
do you not remember us?  
Do you not recall the existence of that red one,  
with his mischievous eyes, or that  
serene ocean whose depths are surprisingly dark?  
What about her over there, she of the glittering stage,  
or that golden breeze of a girl.  
You cannot truly believe that  
it'll all be that simple.

But maybe you're thinking it'll be easy  
to just get rid of a few aberrations  
with no objections.  
You've done it before, after all,  
you don't have a reason to  
assume it won't work now.

Sorry, we're afraid you'd be wrong.

Did you really think we were  
that small in number?  
Didn't you know of that girl who  
emulates the spirits of those  
fictional heroes she so adores?  
Did you not realise that amongst us, we have  
a monument to sheer force, an  
unexpected culinary fiend and that one  
boy who'd spend his days with  
oil stained hands if he could?  
Weren't you aware that although  
that one boy's eyes  
rove where they shouldn't,  
he's still one of us?

And, there's more to come.

Amongst us, we have a good friend  
is truly passionate about his game,  
and we have another boy whose stories  
will one day grace our screens.  
Then there is the dragon's herald, and you  
won't need to look too far from him to find  
that dignified fragrance with her severe beauty.

You're afraid now, aren't you?  
The final page, the end of the line,  
that's what we are to you.  
Your precious plan did not unfold the way  
you wanted it to and  
now you flounder, unsure of yourself.

Good, we say, that's how it should be.

After all, this is what we've endured,  
all of us, together, from  
that girl who wields words as  
dusky as her looks to that  
boy who appears to soar  
carefree amongst constellations.  
As for that gentle girl who remains earnest  
despite her own inadequacies and the  
magician who created whole worlds  
with paints and pencils, they know  
these uncertainties just as the  
rest of us do.

Shut up, we're not finished yet!

See, there's that one there, he moves forward  
to personify his name, and he is followed  
not only by that future-gazing girl, but  
by the nimble footed one, too.  
We have one who didn't realise  
he was part of us, despite his own intellect,  
but that's okay, for he's here now.  
And as well as them, we have the  
pretty pink being, and the child who  
possesses hope with her head held high.  
Yes, they're one of us, believe it or not.  
And we cannot forget our  
good hearted disciplinarian or our  
innocent forest eyed girl, nor can we neglect  
the one who mothers us all, let alone  
the boy who serves as our glue,  
and once you bring in the youngest of us  
,our final puzzle piece, then, then,  
our group is complete.

This is it, it seems.  
The final page, the end of the line.  
This who we all are, this is  
how far we've come.  
And this, you see, is where we  
will remain.

We were part of your plan,  
yet because it did not manifest  
how you wanted it to, you  
want to pull us down,  
you want to pretend that none of this  
ever happened, that  
we never happened.  
But look, look, look over here.  
We're here, we're still here.  
Yet maybe even now, you still  
think that it'll be that easy  
to just consign us  
to the fate of the forgotten.

But as we keep saying, that  
is not the right answer.  
No matter what happens, we  
will not go away  
for no matter how much you pretend  
it is not so,  
we are your shadows, and so  
we will always haunt you.

* * *

 **This is possibly both one of the longest and one of the angriest poems I've ever written, I think. I did listen to various versions of the songs 'Tokyo Teddy Bear' and 'Idola no Circus' while drafting/typing up so that might have something to do with it. Anyway, I wrote this based on a particular panel from Ch167 of the manga, which I happened to come across before the chapter translation was available (see the cover I used for this), and so it's a little AU in a sense, but I still think it fits in rather well with both the current situation and 3E's nature as a whole.**

 **But it is also VERY heavy on the metaphors, especially with the sections I've used to feature the members of 3E. I used a whole different variety of their aspects to come up with a line (or a couple of lines, where the wording wouldn't allow for only one) for each of them- appearance, personality, interests, name meanings, class role, habits etc, and in some cases, I mixed and spliced a couple of different aspects to create a better metaphor/descriptor of the member in question. Admittedly, I have a habit of being obscure, and writing for some of the characters was extremely difficult, and I don't know Japanese so I did end up reliant on the likes of Ansatsu-Database and various name-meaning sites, so if any of them do bamboozle you, feel free to ask me- I actually have all the metaphors noted down in a separate place to my drafts of this, so it wouldn't be too much trouble. But with that being said, feel free to try and guess as many as you can!**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this poem. Please do leave me feedback, I'd like to know what you thought!**


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